New Egypt President

Since June, Egypt’s newest president Mohamed Morsi, has been trying to balance Egypt’s diplomatic and financial relationship with the West with his inner beliefs. He is now drafting a new constitution. The move was seen by some critics of President Morsi as an effort by the Muslim Brootherhood to hijack the constitution. Other critics are seeing this as a way to quickly defuse anger about his now expansion of presidential powers. There are major protest going through cities now against Morsi; some of the biggest since Mubarak’s ouster in 2011.

New China Leader

China had a new leader that came into office earlier this month. Xi Jinping was the vice president, but was elevated to General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party on November 15. With his election, countries like Pakistan that have close strategic partnerships with China, are having to watch for evolution of China’s strategic, political and economic policies that are expected to happen in the years to come.

Hillary Clinton Stepping Down

After being a US Senator for New York and the secretary or State, Hillary Clinton has recently stepped down from her position that she held for three decades. She is now leaving government as its most popular figure, with a recent approval rating close to 70 per cent. With this unexpected move, everyone is questioning if she will run for president in the upcoming 2016 election.

BP Paying for Oil Spill

Until now, the only person to be charged after the oil spill was a former engineer who was arrested for deleting texts that about the oil spill for obstruction of justice. Since the spill in 2010, BP has recently had to pay $4.5 billion for the settlement. They also announced that they will be pleading guilty to their criminal charges relating to 11 deaths of workers, and lying to congress.

Fiscal Cliff

“Fiscal cliff” is the shorthand term used to describe the dilemma that our government will face at the end of 2012, when the terms of the Budget Control Act of 2011 are scheduled to begin. President Barack Obama is warning that going off the fiscal cliff could cost the average family more than $2,000. Congress and the White House are now battling over the $7 trillion of tax increases and spending cuts that could start to take effect in January. With the fiscal cliff beginning, it has been suggested that we cut our military and defense spending by billions of dollars on top of the cuts from last year.